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There is more to relocation services than simply packing personal belongings, crating items and moving boxes to different locations - it's about dealing with the larger picture of circumstantial change. With four decades of experience, M. Dyer & Sons has learned how to cope with the stresses of moving incurred to clients, at times offering not just their core services but also empathy and a heart that understands their customer's situation.
Moving is a stressful venture, according to president and CEO, Rebecca Parker, 20-year veteran of one of the largest and most progressive moving firms in the Pacific. It is by taking care of the clients, and not just their belongings, that sets M. Dyer & Sons approach to customer service apart from other players in the industry.
Beyond the needs of their customers, M. Dyer endeavors to provide a thriving work environment to their employees, and fulfill a double bottom line philosophy through proactive community involvement. Rebecca's leadership protracts the company's deeply ingrained sense of charity.
A Warm Reception in to the Ohana
Overqualified and uncertain of future prospects, Rebecca accepted a job at M. Dyer & Sons 20 years ago as a bookkeeper.
"It was a tough job market at the time and I was broke and 20-something and very worried about how I was going to pay the rent, so I accepted a bookkeeping position," she says.
Rebecca's journey to the top was long and strenuous. She had to learn every facet of the business, constantly assuming responsibilities that required her to develop and employ time management, and organizational skills.
"The Dyer family saw the potential and helped groom me over a 10-year period of time without me knowing that that's where they were heading," Rebecca remarks.
M. Dyer & Sons believes in promoting from within. In fact, all of their upper management staff has climbed from the lowest to the highest rung of their corporate ladder. This philosophy, Rebecca says, provides a better quality base and a clear vantage point to look at their customers' needs.
"We believe in having a working family and I say that to all new hires that come on with us, 'Welcome to the M. Dyer & Sons Ohana'," Rebecca says. "And we mean that seriously."
Years ago, the Dyers developed a succession plan, which eventually resulted to the sale of the company to its employees. Today, the company has approximately 60 employee owners - a unique concept, according to Rebecca, that drives up quality immensely.
Perpetuating a Community-Veered Mindset
Community involvement is not something new to M. Dyer & Sons. Stepping on to the company, Rebecca came across a business owner and his company culture veered towards serving the community.
"Medford Dyer, from the first day I started, was so involved in so many community projects," says Rebecca. "I remember the first day I started there, he handed me a piece of paper and said, 'I need to type this up. I've got a Boy Scout meeting today and can you help me with this?'"
"He instilled that belief really early on in being involved in the community," she adds.
Rebecca carries on the legacy of giving to this day, and has virtually blurred the lines between their profit and community bottom line through their numerous engagements in charity.
"If you give back to the community, it comes back so in so many different ways," Rebecca says.
M. Dyer & Sons matches all of the Aloha United Way giving that its employees put forward. Moreover, besides chairing the Hawaii Food Bank, Rebecca leads her employees in support of the organization through leverage. In 2006, the company has collected approximately five thousand pounds of food and about $12,000 in cash as proceeds to the Hawaii Food Bank. M. Dyer also assists Goodwill Industries in breaking down barriers to employment, in addition to providing community-training programs.
Skylar's Fight
One of the company's most recent social participation was the corporate drive to raise funds for Families of SMA. M. Dyer and its employees have donated thousands of dollars into this cause. One of the company's employees, Tate Matthews, has joined the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon on June 24 under Skylar's Fight team to generate awareness and raise funds to find a cure for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).
Named after Tate's six-year old nephew, Skylar Bahrenburg, Skylar's Fight team was formed in 2003 as a family-organized fund raising initiative.
In 2005, Skylar's Fight has raised more than $40,000. This year, a week before the event, the team has already gathered pledges in excess of $35,000, exceeding the expected $25,000 in donations to Families of SMA for 2007.
SMA is the number one genetic killer of children under the age of two. It is a group of inherited and sometimes fatal diseases that destroy the nerves, controlling voluntary movement, which affects crawling, walking, head and neck control, and even swallowing. One in every 6,000 babies is born with the disease.
More Than Just a Relocation Service
"The relocation process is not about moving crates, it's not about moving boxes, it's not about moving pounds per day, it's about moving individuals and families," Rebecca says.
This philosophy has influenced Rebecca's hands-on approach to dealing with customers and employees. From time to time, she goes out of the office and on to job sites to personally talk to customers, oftentimes hearing sob stories behind their relocation. M. Dyer tries to relieve the stresses of moving by listening to customers and identifying their specific needs rather than, "You got to move this entire house today," as Rebecca puts it. The company considers each and every item they pack and crate as representations of memories and the lives of their customers.
For Rebecca Parker, relocation service is truly not just about moving boxes - it's about moving lives.
Please visit www.mdyerandsons.com and www.skylarsfight.com for more information.
Catch Rebecca Parker on Greater Good Television. Watch Greater Good TV on KGMB9, Saturdays and Sundays at 4:30pm. Greater Good Radio airs every Saturday morning on 1420 AM and online at www.greatergoodradio.com.
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